Derrick Walker To Manage Ed Carpenter Racing

Ed Carpenter's plans for 2012 took a steep upward turn when he confirmed that he'll use the Derrick Walker Racing shop in northeast Indianapolis to house his new IZOD IndyCar Series team. Walker, a former Penske Racing team member and long-time team owner, will manage Carpenter's Indy car team, lending his many years of expertise.

Walker will continue to run the Falken Tire American Le Mans Series (ALMS) GT team that steadily moved up during the 2011 season. Adding the Indy car team to his schedule means some very busy weekends. This move allows Carpenter to focus on his driving skills, rather than tackling team ownership while at the track.

"Personally, he won't be able to do it any other way," Walker mused. "The series is very competitive and you just can't cover both bases effectively. Hopefully we are there to carry that load help set it up." Ed Carpenter Racing has ordered two Dallara DW12 chassis for the team; it will announce its engine affiliation as soon as the contracts are signed.

Although the schedule hasn't been fully released for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season, Walker anticipates only a few potential conflicts when ALMS and INDYCAR complete different events on the same weekend. One potential conflict is the weekend of July 6-8, when ALMS races at Lime Rock and INDYCAR is scheduled to race in Toronto. There are three scheduled weekends when the series race together: Long Beach in April, Mid-Ohio in August and the Baltimore race Labor Day weekend in September.